It can be observed that in the pharmaceutical workshops of modern pharmaceutical companies in my country, a series of automated pharmaceutical equipment, including dry/wet granulation machines and rotary tablet presses, are gradually replacing manual labor, greatly reducing labor costs, reducing human error rates, and improving productivity, thus helping companies enhance their competitiveness and avoid being eliminated by the times.
However, it is also important to recognize that although some automated equipment has gradually entered pharmaceutical factories and is used for automated drug production, how to achieve automated management of pharmaceutical equipment and ensure its stable and reliable operation is a new challenge for pharmaceutical equipment manufacturers.
Compared to traditional pharmaceutical equipment, automated equipment is more efficient, requires less labor, and has lower labor costs. However, it also places higher demands on operators and management. Traditional equipment management methods, such as equipment inspection, maintenance, and repair, are no longer sufficient to meet the needs of automated equipment management. Industry experts believe that achieving automated and efficient pharmaceutical production requires the assistance of industrial Internet of Things (IoT) technology for technological transformation and upgrading.
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) integrates various data acquisition and control sensors or controllers with sensing and monitoring capabilities, as well as technologies such as mobile communication and intelligent analysis, into all aspects of the industrial production process. This significantly improves manufacturing efficiency, enhances product quality, reduces product costs and resource consumption, and elevates traditional industries to a new stage of intelligent manufacturing.
It is understood that PLC technology, or Programmable Logic Controller, is currently the most widely used automation technology in my country's pharmaceutical companies. This technology can not only regulate analog quantities but also control digital quantities, making it convenient for staff to operate. PLC technology has played a significant role in promoting the development of pharmaceutical companies. In the pharmaceutical field, PLC technology can be applied to dispensing equipment. By pre-setting drug formulas in the system, the dispensing equipment can automatically dispensing, filling, and packaging drugs according to the formula, reducing labor costs and greatly improving dispensing efficiency. In addition, this technology is also widely used in coating equipment, drug filling and packaging equipment.
Through the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), pharmaceutical equipment can collect data to drive product upgrades and replacements. On the other hand, it can also remotely monitor and debug equipment, improve equipment management efficiency, reduce the cost of manual equipment maintenance, and provide better services to users.
According to relevant departments' forecasts, the global Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) market is expected to reach nearly $1.1194 trillion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17% from 2021 to 2028, indicating a promising market prospect. However, it is worth noting that the IIoT still lacks standardization, and data security is also a major concern within the industry. Only by addressing these bottlenecks can the development of the pharmaceutical equipment industry be further promoted.
In addition, some industry insiders pointed out that under the new circumstances, pharmaceutical equipment companies need to further enhance the functions of equipment information transmission and network interconnection to achieve automated and flexible batch control and batch management throughout the entire pharmaceutical production process. This will help to form intelligent pharmaceutical equipment with features such as network communication, self-sensing ability, analytical reasoning and decision-making and execution capabilities, and self-adaptation and optimization capabilities, thus helping to achieve automated management of pharmaceutical equipment.
